Sweet Dreams, Theresa
by letschangetheworld
Summary: You can only drag me around for only so long before I crack. You should’ve realized that. Jay/Theresa, directly after Dreamweaver.


Starts at the ending of Dreamweaver. That moment we've been waiting for.

A continuation of the episode, just because I was left so unsatisfied with the Jay/Theresa ending.

None of it's mine, but review! Flufffffff.

* * *

Theresa laid in bed, hugging her pillow into her chest and neck and listening to Jay leave the room, gently closing the door behind him. The room was swept into complete darkness again, the only source of light from the moon and even that was dim.

Her brain was swarmed with thoughts, so jumbled that she closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to relax. She couldn't let him walk away. How could she have even let him think he was talking to a sleeping person when really they were wide awake and listening and absorbing every word?

Theresa peeled back the thin sheets that had molded to her body and swung her legs out from the bed. Quietly, she stood and tiptoed around the bed, not wishing to wake up Atlanta. The door opened fairly quietly to her surprise, barely making a sound at all. She slipped out into the darkened hallway while shutting the door with equal silence. Thank _god_.

If Atlanta knew what Theresa was planning, she would have never stopped ragging on her.

Turning away from the wood, Theresa managed to just catch a glimpse of Jay's white t-shirt as he turned around the far corner. She hurried down the hallway after him, peeking around the wall once she reached the bend.

"Jay?"

Theresa stepped away from the wall to stand in the middle of the hallway, just as her brown haired leader turned his head at the sound of his name, a surprised expression crossing his face before his eyes widened in concern.

"Are you okay? Do you need something?" Jay spun around completely and strode down the hallway to her. What if the aftereffects of being under in that world for so long were affecting her? What if she was being plagued by those bat things she told them about?

As he approached her, Theresa alternated between simply telling him goodnight, or telling him everything. All the words that were rising in her throat and itching their way out, needing to be said finally. Finally, he stood in front of her, waiting and expecting her to spit out whatever she had gotten out of bed for.

"Can we talk?" Theresa finally blurted out. Jay blinked at her, before he slowly nodded.

"Uh, yeah, of course." He glanced around. "But unless you want to talk in the middle of the hallway.."

"Outside?" Theresa whispered, motioning to a nearby window and Jay nodded again, turning around and leading the way back down the hallway, past the girl's room. They walked in silence, Jay occasionally glancing over his shoulder at the red haired girl wandering after him.

Soon, the two teens found themselves exiting the old building and entering the fresh, early morning air. Jay stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants, with Theresa to a single bench off to the side from the building where they were bunking.

"So, what's this about?" Jay finally asked, sitting down on the bench and looking up at Theresa with interest. She continued to stand, however, and began to pace in front of him. "If this is about how hard I've been.."

"No, it's not. Well, it has to do with it, I guess." Theresa stopped for a moment, simply staring at him before she blushed and commenced her pacing again. "Look, when I was in that vision dream thing, Atlanta told me you stayed by my side." She looked at Jay again as she walked back and forth.

He blushed, absentmindedly scratching his face. "Well, yeah, I did.. I thought the others could handle Cronus, and you were.. all out of it.."

"Right." Theresa nodded. "But the point is that you stayed." She stopped pacing and stood in front of Jay, gnawing at her bottom lip. "When even though YOU'VE been the one to push us all and YOU'VE been the one whose been so determined and narrow-minded about getting Cronus that you've shut everybody else out!"

Jay looked up in surprise. "Narrow-minded?" He repeated, bewildered. "Shutting everybody else out? Who do you think you are, a physiatrist?"

"Jay, no, I'm just.." Theresa trailed off, running both hands through her hair in frustration. "What I'm TRYING to say, is that even though you were all of those things, and don't even try to deny it, _you stayed_." Her voice had softened.

"For the fifteenth time tonight, yeah, I did stay."

Theresa managed a slight smile, even though Jay was looking fairly peeved about having been prevented from sleeping and then assaulted with such a repetitive accusation. "Is this all you wanted to 'talk' to me about?" He asked, rising from the bench and looking at her expectantly.

She just stared at him. Theresa bit her lip as Jay raised his eyebrows, waiting for her answer. When Theresa began to swing her arms childishly at her side, fishing for an excuse and time, Jay finally gave up.

"I'm going to bed," He declared. "You can continue to pace around the grass, though. Feel free, really. And if you want to waste any more time looking for the right words to say, feel free to do that too. Now excuse me, but my bed is - "

"I love you," Theresa blurted out, eyes widening for a brief second. Jay blinked in surprise, leaning back a little and staring at her with even higher eyebrows. Theresa had a nagging feeling that this wasn't going to turn out exactly how she would've wanted it, but carried on at full speed.

"I love you and I know how ridiculous that sounds, but I do. You're always there, always there for the team and for me, especially. You're always glancing over your shoulder to make sure I'm okay, and it's the way you _treat_ me!" She threw up her arms in frustration. "You treat me like I'm the only woman on the entire planet that you're ever going to want to talk to for the rest of your life. But you flirt with me and then suddenly you back off and you put such a huge space between us that I want to punch you for your own stupidity!"

She took a breath and Jay tried to take this opportunity to speak but she wouldn't allow it. "Let me finish, Jay. I get it, okay? I get that you don't want a relationship right now, because obviously the past few days have proved your number one concern. Cronus. And I get that, I do. You're our leader, that's what you're supposed to do.

But you can only drag me around for only so long before I crack. You should've realized that. I'm not a toy, you can't play and flirt with me and then toss me away for a while before finding interest in me again." Tears were falling unchecked down her cheeks but it seemed like it didn't register to Theresa, like she couldn't feel them.

"Put me out of my misery," She added softly, shoulders slumping as her energy seemed to fail. "Either tell me to get over myself or tell me I'm the one. Because I can't keep doing this. You can't keep doing this."

There was silence for a few moments after Theresa had finished. Jay just looked at her, taking in her vulnerable state and her tears and her shaky hands and the goose bumps on her skin from the mixture of cold night air and the absolute power of what she had just done.

"I.." Jay tried to begin, but he couldn't find the right words. What could you say to somebody after _that_? It was impossible to even think at the moment and Jay was sure he would completely disappoint her if he tried to come up with something as heartfelt, as genuine as she had.

"Get over myself, right?" Theresa assumed quietly, holding her hands against her stomach to try and get them to stop shaking so much. That, and she suddenly felt violently sick. "God, I never should've done this. This is such a mistake, I'm so sorry. Forget this even happened, okay? We can go back to being.. normal. I should've just let you walk away."

The last few words hit Jay like a raw punch from Herry. _I should've just let you walk away_. So, she had indeed heard him earlier. Jay had begun to suspect it but wasn't sure. Perhaps she had only just woken up after he had left the room.. but no, no this confirmed it. Christ, what on earth had he gotten himself into? Did Theresa really feel that way? Like he was using her?

"I'm sorry." Theresa started to turn, pressing her hands into her stomach and trying to control the emotion bubbling up inside of her. Maybe today hadn't been the best day to approach Jay on this subject. One might not be in the right mental state after being thrown head first into a vision with crazy gargoyles.

But she only managed to get half way back to the door of the building when something grabbed her clammy, shaking hand, wheeling her around. Theresa found herself staring at the white material of Jay's pajama shirt. The height difference was astronomical these days.

"Don't," Theresa began unevenly, but Jay hushed her by descending a little and placing his lips smack-dab on hers.

She stiffened as both of his hands came to grip her upper arms, holding her in place but pulling her closer to him. After a moment, Jay got tired of the one sided kissing and awkwardly began to pull back. But just as his lips left hers, Theresa surged forward, capturing them again deeply.

Theresa had been kissed before, several times. She wasn't new to the technique, but the way Jay was kissing her.. it was like he was barely touching her but yet was managing to send signals all over her body, heating her in places she never knew could be warm. He finally released her arms and just when Theresa thought this was over Jay wrapped his arms around her tightly, lifting her off the ground.

Letting out a laugh into his mouth, Theresa's arms came to wind around his neck as he hugged her to him, spinning a little with Theresa.

Jay set her down gently on the ground, and pulled away unenthusiastically for air. Theresa's lips were slightly swollen, but her eyes and face had never looked brighter.

"Theresa - " She wouldn't let him finish and placed her lips on his for another kiss, this one brief.

"Don't," Theresa whispered blatantly, for the second time that evening. "We can talk later, if you want."

"I love you. I'm not just saying that because you said it to me," Jay told her firmly. "I mean it. And I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot, I know. I don't get why you're in love with me in the first place but I love you." He took a deep breath. "You do understand why I kept pulling back, right?"

"Yeah," She whispered after a moment. "But I know you. You won't let anything happen."

"You're too right." Jay leaned forward, pressing his lips to her cold forehead and letting his silent promise sink into her skin.

Nobody was going to take advantage of her again, if he had anything to say about it.

Sweet dreams, Theresa.


End file.
